Class h ^\ h^^^l^ ^nolv liZ/Ti® FliKSKXTl-:]) HY 1907 ^ ^5, HALIFAX COUNTY VIRGINIA A HANDBOOK Prepared under the Direction of the BOARD OF SUPERVISORS BY ALFRED J. MORRISON EVERETT WADDEY CO., Richmond, Virginia 1907 Uj w <^' f )\\^Y\% 1 ()avr\je^1ubv^n \kl CONTENTS. Part I.— DESCRIPTIVE I. II. III. IV. The County. V. — The Towns. VI. — The Business of the Country. VII. — Schools and Churches. VIII. — Minerals and Mineral Waters. IX. — Water Powers. X. — Suggestions. XI. — Statistics. Part II.— HISTORICAL. I.— 1676-1752. II.— 1752-1776. III.— 1776-1830. IV.— 1830-1865. v.— 1865-1907. The writer must tender his acknowledgments to Captain W. G. Morton; to Captain M. French; to the Rev. Flournoy Bouldin; to Mr. T. E. Dickerson; and to the County Officials. HALIFAX COUNTY 5 County Government in the Ter-Centennial Year. Judge (Sixth Circuit) William E,. Barksdale, Houston. Commonwealth's Attorney Wood Bouldin, Houston. Treasurer Thomas Easley, South Boston. County and Circuit Cleric Gran Craddock. Sheriff W. P. Shephard, Houston. Board of Supervisors. H. C. Lacy (Chairman) Koanoke District Scottsburg. R. S. Barbour, Banister District South Boston. L. W. Rice, Birch District Ingram. D W Owen i -^^^^^ Walnut District Denniston. T. E. DicKERSON, Meadsville District Houston, R. F. D. A. E, WiLKiNS, Mount Carmel District Turbeville. R. F. Tuck, Red Bank District VirgiKna. Dr. R. P. Thornton, Staunton District, Repubhcan Grove Superintendent of Public Schools Thos. E. Barksdale, Paces. R. F. D. Commissioner of Accounts and Commissioner in Chancery. Benj. Watkins Leigh, Houston. .Commissioners of Revenue. H. W. Quarles, Court House District South Boston. T. B. Traynham, Southern District .....Cluster Springs. G. T. Card well. Northern District Clay's Mill. Superintendent of the Poor R. D. Thompson, Houston, R. F. D. Examiner of Records for Sixth Judicial Circuit William P. Barksdale, Houston. County Surveyor M. French, Houston. Mayors of the Four Corporations. R. Holt Easley, Houston. A. Hayes, Virgilina. Joseph Stebbins, Jr., South Boston. C. A. Gregory, Clover. *Died Feb. 21, 1907 PART I, DESCRIPTIVE. 8 HALIFAX COUNTY I. The County. Study the map of Halifax County which accompanies this handbook. Compute the area of the county — say, 27 miles by 30 — some 800 square miles, and then make a few comparisons. Halifax county is larger than Saxe- Coburg-Gotha, a German State and an hereditary consti- tutional monarchy. Halifax county is larger than Buck- inghamshire in England; and little smaller than the land surface of the State of Rhode Island. The population of Buckinghamshire in England is almost 200,000. The population of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Germany is more than 220,000. Buckinghamshire and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha are both of them agricultural regions. In 1900 the popula- tion of Halifax county, an agricultural county, was 37,197. Therefore, it is plain that we have room for more citizens. This book is in part intended to show that we have more than room — that in the great industrial awakening of the South there are few sections which should offer more to the farmer, the manufacturer and the man of commerce than Halifax county offers. II. The County. The County of Halifax in Virginia lies in the Middle Region of the state and extends over half a degree of latitude — from the Virginia-North Carolina boundary parallel, 36° 50', to the 37th parallel and a little beyond. The 79th parallel of longitude traverses the county. Hali- fax county forms a part of the great undulating plain which gently rises from the limit of tidewater to the low, broken ranges of hills that make the outlines of the Blue Ridge HALIFAX COUNTY 9 Mountains. There is the width of one county between HaUf ax and the Piedmont country. The mountains to the west protect us from cyclones and tornadoes. The gulf stream tempers our climate, our winters are short, we have extremes neither of heat nor of cold. Rain is abundant. Streams and springs are everywhere. We have health. Our lands respond to good treatment and yield wealth. Our location makes it practicable for us to raise not only one crop a year, but two crops a year or even three crops a year. We are re-discovering that ours is a stock country, that stock — cattle and sheep and hogs — pay and pay handsomely if we give them half a chance. Our tim- ber has been culled, but we have timber in plenty, and we have wood by the million cords. Although an agricultural county we manufacture and we have only just begun to see what the possibilities are in the manu- facturing line. Our waterpower is such that our two great pivers might be half lined with mills and factories; our two lesser rivers likewise; and our smaller streams could furnish almost as much power again. Although an agri- cultural county we have ten banks with deposits aggregating a million and a quarter dollars and more. Our county has been financed with home capital, and what that means will be understood when it is remarked that more than one of our bank officials came home after the civil war to face ruin. Halifax is an agricultural county, but its mineral deposits are of great value. Grain lands, pasturage, to- bacco lands, fruit lands — river bottoms and highlands — power sites, mines, climate, healthfulness — it is the truth that we have much to offer, and the whole within but 150 miles of the sea coast, direct communication, and Wash- ington and the northern cities only a few hours away. 10 HALIFAX COUNTY III. The County. Why is this county of Hahfax, with all its natural advantages, sparsely* settled in the Ter-Centenninal year, 1907? Simply because more than forty years are necessary to make conditions normal after a war that has been fought at peoples' doors. Lands which before the Civil War were worth four and five times their present rating, after the war were thrown out of cultivation, be- cause neither capital nor labor was to be had for the proper working of them. Plantations before the war were little dominions. The extensive system was the only system in repute. The war changed the basis of profit from the extensive to the intensive system, but it requires time for a people to understand fully that conditions have been changed. The extensive system still pays well if the investor has sufficient capital. For the average farmer in the county and for the average settler the intensive, diversified system will pay best — that is, the careful handling of an acreage not exceeding 200. Thoroughly fence 200 acres, work each part of the place to the best advantage, keep enough stock to make manure, raise hogs and good forage crops, confine the money crop to an area small enough to be handled with high efficiency, keep eternally busy, and Halifax county is the place for you. Your surplus may be invested on the spot. The years will bring dividends of various sorts. Soil-exhaustion is a worn-out term. And there is no soil that responds more quickly than this to intelligent management. Fields need no rest. The 5^ *It miist not be forgotten that by the last census Halifax stands third in population (not including city population) among the counties of Virginia. HALIFAX COUNTY 11 need variety. They like to work. Keep them at it. Keep a roof on them. They will smile at you and you will smile at them. Some time ago a farmer in the eastern part of the county had planted his tobacco crop — four acres. A man came along and wanted to buy the field. The farmer said he would sell for the value of the crop, no more, no less. The other man said he would see about it. That crop brought $426, after paying warehouse charges. Those were four average acres of upland, recently cleared of small pine. Next year they will be in wheat, and the following year in grass or clover, according to the rotation we practice. This four-acre, $426 crop suggests something on the tobacco side, a very important side. On the other hand, read the following statement of a settler who left the North- west for Halifax county: ''I am a German farmer who lived about twenty-five years in the Northwestern states. I left the Northwest on account of the cold and long winters and also because the land was too high priced to make farming pay. About thirteen years ago I moved to Halifax county, near South Boston, Virginia. I bought an 800 acre plantation. I kept about sixty head of cattle and began to improve with stable manure, green crops (crimson clover, and cowpeas), and good plowing. Now I have a fine farm, cost me only about k what it would in the Northwestern states, and I can grow about the same amount of grain to an acre as in the Northwestern states. I sowed last year an upland field in German millet. Har- vested 2i tons of hay to the acre, sold at South Boston market for $20.00 a ton. Another field I sowed in the fall with crimson clover, after the oat crop was harvested. I mowed this field May 12th and had ih ton of clover hay to the acre. Soon after I plowed the land again, and planted to corn the middle of June. Harvested about 50 12 BALIFAl COUNTY bushels of corn to the acre. So the clover hay and corn crop value in one summer was about $35 per acre. We have about twelve months the year to work the land, a fine mild climate, plenty of firewood, clear soft water, springs and streams all over, good neighborhood, schools and churches. 1 think this is the best country now in our United States for immigrants, especially German farmers."* IV. The County. Halifax county lies in the bright tobacco belt of Southern Virginia, which means that a man has the choice of being a general farmer, or of concentrating upon one of the most highly specialized branches of farming to be found in the world, or of being both general farmer and specialist. Roughly, the county is triangular in shape, the Staunton River forming the longest side — from northwest to south- east. The Dan River flows through the southern part of the county, making a junction with the Staunton at a southeastern angle of the county. From this point to Tidewater (only 70 miles distant) the united rivers are known as the Roanoke. Besides the Dan and the Staun- ton, Halifax county is watered by two other rivers, the Banister and the Hyco. The basin of the Banister lies between the valleys of the Dan and the Staunton. The Hyco flows into the Dan from the South. An inspection of the map will show, how the numerous tributaries of these larger streams , furnish water and water power throughout the county. A division of the Southern Railway (Richmond and Danville) runs through the county of Halifax, fromx the northeast curving to the southwest. Another division *Johii Cramer, South Boston, E,. F. D. HALIFAX COUNTY 13 of the Southern Railway (Norfolk and Danville) skirts the southern boundary of the county, between the Virginia- North Carolina line and the Dan River. The Norfolk and Western (Lynchburg, Va., and Durham, N. C, Divi- sion) bisects the county from north to south. The Tide- water Railroad, from Norfolk to the coal fields, will parallel the Staunton River to the north. Few counties in Virginia have more railroad mileage than Halifax. The four towns of the county are: (1) Houston, the county seat, at the centre of the county on the Norfolk and Western Railroad. (2) South Boston, the county metropolis, a little south of the centre, at the crossing of the Southern and the Norfolk and Western. (3) Virgilina a mining town, in the southern part of the county on the Norfolk-Danville division of the Southern. (4) Clover, in the eastern part of the county on the Richmond-Dan- ville division of the Southern. The county of Halifax is divided into eight magisterial districts as follows: (1) Banister, 'honnded on two sides by rivers, the Banister and the Dan. (2) Birch, with the Dan as its southern boundary. (3) Black Walnut, bounded on the north by the Dan and traversed by the Hyco. (4) Meadsville, through which runs the Banister. (5) Mt. Carmel, lying between the Dan and the North Carolina line. (6) Red Bank, of which the Dan forms the northern boundary and through which the Hyco runs. (7) Roanoke, between the rivers Banister and Staunton. (8) Staunton, with the Staunton river for northern bound- ary. Every district has a river and a railroad. In addi- tion, every district has its telephone line and on the average three rural mail delivery routes. Red Bank is a mining district. There is enough power at the Hyco Falls to smelt copper and refine gold at many points in the Red Bank district of the Virgilina Belt. The 14 HALIFAX COUNTY Buffalo Lithia Springs, (its waters a world-famous pre- scription for the uric acid diathesis) are less than five miles to the east. The Talley Falls are sufficient to dot Roanoke district with manufacturing plants. Banister is a com- mercial and manufacturing district. Its products go to states from Connecticut to Texas. Its wholesalers keep men on the road throughout the South and the Southwest. Its tobacco market is in magnitude the second of its type in Virginia. Meadsville is a typical bright tobacco dis- trict — light, quick soils that make the texture and the coloring. Staunton district produces a tobacco quite as good, that is, the best; and the same is true of all eight districts though not so emphatically as of these two. Birch, Black Walnut, Mt. Carmel, Roanoke, Staunton, Banister are excellent grain farm districts and the men who care for stock and give stock care are not failures in these districts. In Mount Carmel and Birch districts cattle are being raised extensively and with conspicuous success. The Towns. South Boston. — South Boston, besides being the second bright tobacco market in Virginia (and therefore in the world, no doubt), is a manufacturing and a jobbing town. After some research the writer cannot find its parallel in Virginia, not simply for rapid growth but for solid enterprise. In 1870 there was nothing but a house or two where South Boston now stands. The place was incorporated in 1884. Within twenty-two years there have grown up here great warehouses and factories and mills; five banks; w^holesale houses (dry goods, groceries, hardware, clothing); exceedingly well-equipped private HALIFAX COUNTY 15 residences; and the concomitants of these, churches and schools. The business men of Hahfax count}^ were not long paralyzed by the war, and with every day the oppor- tunities for business in the county are becoming more manifest. The town of South Boston lies on the north bank of the river Dan, at the crossing of the Norfolk and Western and Southern Railways. Approaching the place from the hills to the South, the view offered is an excellent one. The great county bridge that spans the river here is a con- spicuous feature. Just above it is the long steel trestle of the N. & W. road which curves finely over the flats. To the west of that is the dam and power house that fur- nish electricity to light the town and run the greater part of its machinery. The town extends up from the river and along the slight blufP that overlooks it. One catches only a glimpse of the residence section. But the factory plants are in full view, flanked by rows of tenants' houses. Stemmeries and prizeries loom up. A reservoir overtops the whole. Even a traveller passing through by train is given some index of the extraordinar}^ activity of this Hub of Halifax.* South Boston has the advantage of a competitive freight rate, which enables manufacturers and jobbers to ship products and goods to all points of the compass as cheaply as other towns of greater size. The manufacturing con- cerns and the big wholesale houses are shipping goods to the Southwest at the same rate as the same goods are shipped from New York. 'Trom its earlier days South Boston has been a market for tobacco. The amount of bright leaf sold during the * During March, 1907, the town voted a bond issue of $85,000, the greater part of which will be apphed to water supply and street im- provements. 16 HALIFAX COUNTY tobacco year ending August 31st last in the seven ware- houses here, was: 13,277,873 pounds of leaf for the sum of $1,314,968.54, being an average of $9.90 per hundred; 1,103,236 pounds of scrap for $38,060.83, or an average of $3 . 45 per hundred; total pounds sold 14,381,109, which brought to the farmers marketing here the sum of $1,353- 019.39. From August 31, 1906 to January 1, 1907 the sales were 8,027,306 pounds— $640,987.09. There is no town known as a tobacco market that is better equipped for handling the weed than South Boston. All of the leaf is sold in seven large and well-lighted ware- houses, the proprietors of which have an enviable reputa- tion among the farmers of the surrounding country for liberality, fair dealing and accommodating spirit. There are four large and splendidly equipped stemming establishments here besides a dozen prizeries for handling the leaf tobacco. The stemmeries are owned and con- ducted by the American Tobacco Company, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the Imperial Tobacco Com- pany, of Great Britain and Ireland, and C. W. Walters and Company respectively. In addition to these tobacco firms there are eight or ten private buyers who reprize the weed and ship it to the tobacco manufacturing centres of the world. The South Boston market draws its leaf tobacco from the counties of Halifax, Pittsylvania, Charlotte, Prince Edward and Campbell, in Virginia, and from Person, Granville and Caswell counties, in North Carolina. South Boston has had great success in the matter of jobbing and wholesaling. The idea of an inland town of 4,000 inhabitants doing a jobbing business that runs up into the millions per year is something a little unusual in the mercantile world. There are here three wholesale grocery houses, the R. W. Lawson Grocery Company, HALIFAX COUNTY 17 Easley Grocery Company and Blackwell and Walker, all of whom do a flourishing business. The Virginia Implement and Hardware Company and R. A. Penick and Son are wholesale hardware dealers, and they sell goods in several States. The Farmers' Hard- ware and Supply Company, a concern with large capital, began business in March, 1907. The Keystone Drug Manufacturing Company sells its own proprietary medi- cines and other drugs to the retailers of several states, and they are doing a large business. The wholesale dry goods and notion house of the Steb- bins, Lawson and Spraggins Company carry a regular stock of $300,000, and sell goods from Alexandria, Va., to Corpus Christi, Texas. They keep twelve traveling men on the road all the time and sell great quantities of goods in Virginia, North and South Carolina and northern Georgia. They also sell quantities of special goods in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and up as high as Tennessee and Kentucky. The total sales of this house for a year are beyond the million dollar mark. Their immense store is packed from cellar to garret with dry goods from the common sheetings to the finest silks and dress goods, and with all manner of laces, ribbons, notions, etc. With such a tobacco trade and with so many manufac- turing establishments, employing large numbers of hands, it is but natural that South Boston should have many prosperous retail merchants. There are fifty-odd of them here in one line and another, and some of the retail stores are as handsome establishments as are to be found in any town of three times the size of this. South Boston has already made its mark as a manu- facturing town, and I am inclined to the opinion that in years to come, and a very few years at that, it will be one 18 HALIFAX COUNTY of the leading manufacturing centres of the industrial South. The Barbour Buggy Company, with its wagon manu- facturing branch and its immense storage warehouse, mak- ing three large establishments, and its acres of lumber yards, is one of the largest concerns, if not the largest of its kind, in the South. The Barbour Buggy Company has been manufacturing buggies for many years, and a few years ago absorbed the Virginia Wagon Company, of this place, which confines its work to the manufacture of farm wagons. The combination, now known by the one name of the. Barbour Buggy Company, has three very large establishments, which, with the lumber yards, drying kilns and railway side trackage, cover eight acres of land. The establishment is supplied with the latest machinery from cellar to garret, and with 250 to 300 hands regularly employed they turn out fourteen thousand vehicles per year. In 1893 this firm was producing only thirty- six buggies a year. These buggies, surreys, wagons and drays are sold thoroughout the South Atlantic States from Virginia to Florida, and as far to the Southwest as Alabama, Mississ- ippi, Louisiana and Texas. The timber consumed in these factories comes from the forests of Virginia and North Carolina. Another buggy factory in the town is owned and oper- ated by R. A. Harrell. Mr. Harrell has a factory supplied with suitable machinery, from which he turns out about eight hundred buggies and sewing-machine wagons per annum. His trade is mostly in the South, but he sells some buggies and machine wagons in the West. I saw him making a shipment to Colorado today. HALIFAX COUNTY 19 The Century Manufacturing Company makes and sells all over the South' the famous ''Century cloth/' (now called ''Linonette") known to dry goods merchants far and near. They also make other dress goods, linen finish waistings, bleach muslins and long cloths. This is a South Boston concern, run with South Boston capital, and it does an immense business. Their factory is located in South Carolina, where they are right on the ground with the raw material. The Boston Manufacturing Company, of which Joseph Stebbins is the president, is simply a shirt factory, but something of an unusual one. The company makes only one kind of shirt, a negligee that is made to retail at 50 cents, and the wonder is how it can be sold at that figure. The company employs white women and girls and gives them profitable employment in a neat and airy factory, where every attention is given to health and comfort of the workers. ''The Boston,'' the name of the shirt turned out, is in demand all over the South, and the com- pany cannot keep up with its orders. Plans are now being drawn for a larger factory, that will more than double the present capacity of fifty dozen garments per day. This is the only shirt factory in the South that makes negligees for the trade. The Century Cotton Mills, established here about ten years ago by T. S. Wilson and C. A. Lukins, are now leased for a term of years to the Paramount Knitting Mills, of Chicago. This company runs a number of first-class knitting mills in the West, and they have leased the cotton mills here in which to make knitting yarns for consump- tion in their own knitting factories. The Century Mills employ 125 hands and run 8,088 spindles. They consume nearly or quite 4,000 bales of raw cott9n per year, and turn out about 6,000 pounds of 20 HALIFAX COUNTY knitting yarns per day, all of which are shipped from the factory door to the knitting mills in the West. The Para- mount Company and the Century Mills Company have united to build here a handsome little brick school house for the use of the employes of the mill and their children. Three teachers, one for the kindergarten and two for the common school, are employed and paid by the company. There are really three schools, the kindergarten and the common school for the children in the day, and a night school for the benefit of such of the operatives as wish to avail themselves of it. All are well attended. The South Boston Lumber Company has one of the best equipped plants of its kind in the State. Its capacity is 50,000 ft. per day, and its output goes to the local trade almost solely. Such is the building activity in this region. It must not be forgotten that South Boston had a $200,000 fire last June that cut a swath right through the business centre of the town and destroyed some of the largest stores and factories and warehouses, but one might forget it if not reminded of it. *Somehow it always happens even in as live a town as South Boston, that a good sized fire wakes the people up and causes them to throw new energy into things. It is certain that the fire of last June has made South Boston people do a little more hustling than before. For instance, a Business Men's Association, another name for a Chamber of Commerce, has been organ- ized. It has sixty-odd active members and a splendid corps of officers, as follows: T. B. Johnston, president; Joseph Stebbins, Jr., first vice-president; R. S. Barbour, second vice-president, and Howard L. Edmunds, secretary and treasurer. *A reminder came, March 28, 1907 — in the shape of another fire, in- surance $400,000. The financial sohdity of South Boston has been tested within the ten months. This greater fire has also been accepted as matter of fact, as only incidental to the growth of the town. HALIFAX COUNTY 21 South Boston has as handsome private residences and as substantial and commodious churches as any Virginia city of twice or three times its size, and all the Protestant denominations are represented. A large new hotel, thoroughly equipped, will soon be ready for business. The Opera House, which is a part of the Masonic Temple, is a handsome hall with a seating capacity of 600."* As supplementary to the very adequate summary of the larger activities of South Boston given above, there should be mentioned the Boston Brick Company, brick and cement block manufacturers; the J. A. Mebane Company, Inc., manufacturers of electrical supplies; and the South Boston Ice Company, Inc.f The fraternal orders represented at South Boston, all of which are in flourishing condition, are as follows: Junior Order United American Mechanics (for information apply to A. H. Vaughan); Independent Order of Odd Fellows (for information apply to A. P. Gilbert); and two lodges of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, viz: South Boston Lodge No. 91, and Shepherd Lodge No. 99. South Boston Lodge No. 91 owns the handsome Masonic Temple prop- erty, on the third floor of which are the halls where all the fraternal orders meet. The five banks which are at once the symptom and the guarantee of the prosperity of this town are — Planters and Merchants Bank, (Henry Easle}^, President); Bank of South Boston, (Joseph Stebbins, President); South Boston Savings Bank, (Henry Easley, President); First National Bank, (R. H. Edmondson, President); Boston * Frank S. Woodson: Richmond Times Dispatch, Oct. 7, 1906- t The real estate firm of W. D. Hill & Co. should not be over- looked. Within ten years this firm has settled in Halifax County between 200 and 250 families from the West and the Northwest. 22 HALIFAX COUNTY National Bank, (J. J. Lawson, President). [For Bank Statistics, see Sec. XI.] In short, South Boston is a striking example of ''that realization by the people of the entire South, bankers, merchants and farmers, of the power of co-operation in the proper handling and marketing of the two great staples of the South. Such co-operation has brought about a community of interest which is destined to exert a very great influence upon the entire business interests of the South and of that portion ol the business world which is in any way dependent upon these staples or upon the general prosperity of the South."* i« * * Houston. — Five miles north of South Boston is Hous- ton, the county seat, which dates from the eightheenth century. Population at present 800. The residence street of Houston is one of the most beautiful streets in Virginia, and like several of the streets of South Boston only needs a more efficient macadamizing to make it thoroughly satisfactory. Where roads are so good during the greater part of the year it is difficult to remember, when they are good, that there comes a short season when they grow bad. The county and circuit court house at Houston is a fine old building in the classic style. It stands in a square about which are ranged, after the accepted fashion of other days, county officers' and lawyers' sanc- tums. The courthouse is equipped with one of the safest and most commodious records depositories to be found in Virginia. It is a matter to be devoutly thankful for that when county records are going up in flames elsewhere, these valuable documents (containing data since the establishment of the countv one hundred and fifty-four Manufacturer's Record Dec. 31, 1905. HALIFAX COUNTY 23 years gone by) are placed beyond the reach of the vandal fire. Houston has its electric plant and two banks, those other beacons of light. There are at Houston a brick yard of good capacity, a flour mill, two corn mills, two hotels, two hardware stores, two drug stores, three dry goods stores, and four groceries (one wholesale). Houston has long been known as a centre of culture and refinement. The town has six churches and a high school. Plans are being drawn for the erection there of a steam drying house under the auspices of the Bright Tobacco Protective Asso- ciation of Virginia.* * * * ViRGiLiNA. — Take the train at Houston, transfer at Deniston, go east three stations, and so reach the town of Virgilina, aptly named as being a line town. The contrast is striking. You have come from an atmosphere of the courts, where precedent rules. In Virgilina they think of making precedents. The town has a touch of the metropolitan. Things are doing. The town is neither old nor large, but it looks to a future which science and capital are going to make bright. A^irgilina is the centre of the Virgilina Belt which has been made known to the min- ing world through engineering and mining journals, expert reports, etc., as a field of great opportunities, especially in copper. Outside the coal areas, there is probably no region in Virginia the name of which is more familiar to the realm of the high finance. Moreover, Virgilina is a tobacco market. Its two warehouses sell between a million and a million and a half pounds of tobacco a year. The town has a bank, seven com- mercial establishments, two hotels, two schools, and three churches. Grass does well in this district and as many as fifty head of cattle a year are marketed by one of *President, Halifax Division, T. E. Dickerson, Meadsville. 24 HALIFAX COUNTY the more progressive farmers of that interesting border country. Near Virgihna is found perhaps the largest commercial orchard in the county (the Elliott Orchards and Vineyards.) Here is a large acreage in pears and vines. The Virgilina Belt (Red Bank District) is a mining country but it is not necessary to sink shafts there, or any where else in the county in order to get money. Sink the plowshare ten inches deep and good returns come up. * * * Clover. — The town of Clover lies in the Roanoke Dis- trict on the Southern Railway, six miles from the eastern boundary of the county. The tobacco sales at Clover approximate 1,250,000 pounds. The Bank of Clover, although organized but seventeen months, show^s deposits of $20,000 . 00 . It was near by this tov\^n that the farmer made $426 in tobacco on four acres of land which the other man refused to buy for that price. Clover has five churches, two warehouses, seven commercial establish- ments, (not including a drug store) a hotel and a graded school. Scottsburg, between Clover and South Boston, although not yet a town is an important market village. Scottsburg has three warehouses for the sale of tobacco (and much tobacco is sold), a bank, two churches, a high school, and five commercial establishments. Halifax is an agricultural county and one of the best. Its commercial life is also very active. VI. The Business of the Country. ''While it is true that the industrial development of the South is going forward with amazing rapidity, it is never- theless true that, by virtue of the extent of the agricultural HALIFAX COUNTY 25 interests of the South, agriculture is yet the foundation of the business of that section. A change from poverty to prosperity of the farmers, and a change from land without a selling value to land in demand at an advance of 50 to 150 per cent over the nominal price of one or two years ago is the most far-reaching development in Southern ad- vancement of the last quarter of a century. It is far- reaching in many ways. It means that within the last year or two (1903-1905) Southern farm properties have increased not less than $1,000,000,000 in value probably at least $1,500,000,000." That is true, and Halifax county has had its part in this general advancement. More of our farmers than at any time previous are realiz- ing that the farmer must succeed who practices persistent plowing and cultivation of the land throughout the year (possible with us); and that this method will not injure the crop-producing capacity of the land. Steady improve- ment will be the result. In our climate if a farmer only plows and breaks his land deeply and finely, he is bound to get the results, more particularly if he uses his brains as well as his muscle, finds out all that his land is capable of doing and makes it do it. Progress means nothing more than keeping alive and carrying out intelligently ideas that come from observation and reading. It is not every- where that plowing can be done throughout the year. That is not all. We can raise hogs at three cents a pound or less, and cattle at a figure as low in proportion. We have the advantages. Nature is alt on our side if we only manage her. These things, taken together with the possi- bilities from our tobacco lands, make of us an exceptional region. There can be no doubt about that. One hardware and implement company in South Boston says: ''We figure that our trade in improved farm implements, etc., has increased in the last four or five 26 HALIFAX COUNTY years at least 100 per cent. The farmers are all buying improved tools and of a better quality than they have ever done before. " Another firm says: ''We sell two and three times as much machinery and five times as much wire (at least one half of it woven) as we did four years ago. The carload lot is pur unit now. And as for build- ing material, nails, iron, etc., we can scarcely get enough. " The traveller by road has ample evidence of these state- ments as he goes through the county. The old fence is going down everywhere and the improved fence is going up, the use of which is really an additional capitaHzation of the farm far in excess of the actual outlay. One sees machinery and wire fencing on exhibit at the country store and the stock looks fresh because it is often turned over. There are probably thirty grain mills in the county today, as any mill operator will tell you if you ask him. And there are certainly more than twenty sawmills in Halifax county. An average of about four grain mills and three sawmills to the district. The country merchant is a very important factor in the business of the country. His place of business is the local news exchange and that of itself entitles him to the warm affections of the community. Any social centre in the country, if good will and good morals prevail there, is worth all it costs. But the country merchant needs no defence. His position is secure as one of the most useful of citizens. His store is a focus 'of information as well as of gossip. His business, if he uses his opportunities, may redoimd greatly to the benefit of his neighborhood as well as to his own legitimate profit. He may frequently offer fresh meats for sale. He may take orders for the handsome clothes advertised in the magazines. He may even keep magazines — a well chosen stock — and set up something of a book stall. He may and does become an agent for HALIFAX COUNTY 27 farm macliinery and a buyer of eggs for shipment. From sixty to ninety dozen eggs are ' shipped several times a week from country stores in the county of Hahfax. There are considerably more than a hundred country merchants in the county of Halifax. The claim of completeness is not made for the list given below. These names were secured from two wholesale dealers in the town of South Boston, and in conjunction with a list of farmers (Sec. X.) will be useful to the intending settler. Who knows more about the significant facts in regard to a neighborhood than the busiest men in the neighborhood? The list follows : S. F. Adams, Turbeville; W. 0. Atkins, Black Walnut; W. J. Anderson & Son, Loftis; J. H. Boyd & Son, Jones; Blane and Bass, Alton; W. W. Blane, Alton; J. I. Bray, Nathalie; Hubert Blane, Mayo; W. M. Bates, Repubhcan Grove; E. L. Blackwell, Mt. Carmel; C. C. Bass, Basses; J. G. Bates, Repubhcan Grove; W. B. Cumby, Mountain Road; Chaffin Bros., Clay's Mill; Crenshaw Bros., Hous- ton, R. F. D.; E. H. Cruse & Son, Bayonne; T. B. Clai- bourne, Wolf Trap; F. W. Chaney, Sutherlin; W. W. Crenshaw, Stebbins; J. W. Canada, Lennig; C. C. Chaney, Birch; E. L. Canada, Cross Roads; H. C. Cotes & Son, Houston, R. F. D.; Chaney & Owen, Paces; R. C. Carring- ton, Mt. Laurel; Crutchfield Bros., Mayo; N. G. Davis & Co., Stovall; Henry G. Daniels, Barksdale; C. R. L. Gravitt, Black Walnut; J. E. Green & Son, Mt. Laurel; C. E. Guthrie, Nathalie, R. F. D. ; J. W. Glass, Vernon Hill, R. F. D.; R. C. Hih, Lennig; E. 0. Hubbard, Leda; R. A. Henderson, High Point; J. H. Haynes & Son, Elmo; G. T. Holland, Hermosa; J. M. Irby, Vernon Hill; Jen- nings Bros., Cody; J. H. Jordan & Co., Republican Grove; J. M. Lacy, Scottsburg; J. T. Lacks, Noland; N. B. Lacks, Cross Roads; R. L. Lacy & Co., Scottsburg; S. A. Lacks, Lennig; Le Prad Bros. & Co., Stovall; J. E. Mitchell, 28 HALIFAX COUNTY Alchie; B. S. McCraw, Nathalie; J. W. McDowell, Loftis; G. B. Martin, Carrington; Mickle & Co., Nathalie; D. E. Moorefield, News Ferry; A. E. Newhill & Co., Lennig; W. J. Pierce, News Ferry; Powell Bros., Plato; W. H. Powell, Terrell; J. H. Puryear, Deimiston; W. L. Ray, Meadsville; J. E. Redd, Sutherlin; J. E. Ragland, Hyco; C. J. Robertson, Christie; R. L. Roarkes, Nathalie, R. F. D. ; W. R. Roarkes, Noland; T. C. Rodden, Roddens; Stebbins & Hankins, Ingram; J. J. Salmon, Mt. Laurel; Short & Yates, Nathalie; Tate & Carr, Republican Grove; Trayn- ham Bros., Black Walnut; Traynham Bros. & Thompson, Harmony; Tune & Henderson, Vernon Hill; M. F. Willard, Moffett's; W. W. Weatherford, Houston, R. F. D.; E. Y. Wimbish & Co., Nathalie; E. B. Wimbish, Paces; J. P. Wilkins & Co., Mt. Carmel; G. D. Wilbourn, Houston, R. F. D.; Wirt Wilbourn, Clarkton; Wilkins Bros. Co., Turbeville. The country merchant, naturally, could not live without the farmer. At this point it will be understood why the banks of Halifax county show $1,360,000 in deposits. VII. Churches and Schools. Education is not second to commerce in the life of a people, if for no other reason than because education advances commerce. But it is certainly true that with any people the chronological sequence stands: Agriculture, Commerce, Education. Therefore it is not suprising that in a county such as Halifax, where both agriculture and commerce flourish, the county's receipts for schools should figure well up in the list (9th) among the 100 counties of Virginia, for the year ending September 30, 1906. The following is a statement from the Superintendent of Public HALIFAX COUNTY 29 Schools, who for more than twenty years has given his time and his energies to the upbuilding of the system under his care — Public Schools and Teachers of Halifax County. High Schools — 3. One at Houston, one at Scottsburg, and one at South Boston. Besides these, there is a first class incorporated High School at Cluster Springs* (Black Walnut District), not under State control. Also, there is one colored High School at Houston under church con- trol; and one independent colored High School at Meads ville. Graded Schools— White, 13. Colored, 15. Teachers — High, Graded, and Common Schools. White— 130. Colored— 76. Pupils— High, Graded, and Common Schools. White— 3552 Colored— 3033.t OutHne of what is now on foot — 1st. Consolidation of the schools. At a recent meeting in the Birch Creek * Cluster Springs has been an educational centre for this region for many years. There was a well-known school here before the war. Halifax County is within only a few hours' distance of the University of Virginia, the State Female Normal School, the Vir- ginia Polytechnic Institute. Besides these State institutions the lead- ing denominational colleges are very accessible. fin this coimection it is important to observe the figures for the assessed valuation of property in Halifax County, Auditor's Report, year ending Sept. 30, 1903. Realty— white, $3,455,064; colored, $255,239; Personalty— white, $2,010,923; colored, $157,340. 30 HALIFAX COUNTY District it was decided that six schools be put into one building by the 1st of October. Other districts are asking for consolidation. By means of consolidation and trans- portation the methods of teaching will be vastly improved. 2d. We are looking to local taxation and loans from the State Literary Fund at 4 per cent to enlarge, repair, and equip our school buildings and grounds. 3d. We are inviting distinguished educators to put before our people the great importance of improving the rural schools. Lastly. The clerk of South Boston's Schools, in his last monthly report, stated that the High School building at that place would be renewed or greatly enlarged by the opening of the next school term. (Bonds in the amount of $20,000 have been authorized for immediate issuance.) The people are begininng to show that they are willing to submit to such an increase in the school tax as will be for the best advantage of our school system. [For further School Statistics, see Sec XL] * * * * The Churches of the county are numerous and faithfully administered. Six denominations are represented — the Baptist, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Episcopal, the Christian, and the Mennonite. What has been said of a neighboring county is equally true of Halifax — ''The Sabbath is universally observed, and the people almost without exception attend upon the ordinances of divine worship. It is due to the colored people to say that, while their religious instruction was not neglected before the war, nearly all the churches owned by them have been built since they were emancipated, and mainly out of their own resources." [For Church Statistics, see Sec XL] HALIFAX COUNTY 31 VIII. Minerals and Mineral Waters. Halifax county lies in the great Virginia area of crystal- line rocks in which are found many of the most important minerals and ore deposits in the state. Halifax forms one of the most interesting sections of this area, particu- larly in regard to copper and gold. There should be good opportunities for the mining and manufacturing of kaolin in the eastern part of the county. On Buffalo Creek, in the northwestern angle of the county, a valuable light colored trap occurs. This is a gneiss formation and makes an excellent building stone. Iron is found in the northern part of the county, about Brookneal. There are slate deposits near Christie, in the southern part of the county. The Virgilina Copper Belt, of which half lies in Halifax county, has recently been described as "sl district of unu- sual advantages, whose opportunities are neglected."* The writer, an expert, continues: '' Copper properties never had a better opportunity than the present one for profit- able operation. With the present demand for copper, the Virgilina district deserves serious consideration as a potential source of the metal. Its ores are rich and abund- ant, admirably suited for concentration, and some of them self-fluxing, and they lie only 160 miles by rail from a copper smelter on Atlantic tidewater. A hundred camps in the Southwest are mining ore not half so rich, and are paying smelting charges in no way less onerous, while their output has to travel 2,000 miles to market." The accompanying sketch map shows the lay of the land. *Edward K. Judd: Engineering and Mining Journal, Dec. 1, 1906' See also: 1. Copper Bearing Rocks of Virgilina Copper District, Thomas L. Watson; Bull. Geological Society of America, xiii pp. 353-376, 1902; 2. Virginia Copper Deposits, W. H. Weed and T. L. Watson. [Eco- nomic Geology, I, No. 4, 1906.] 32 HALIFAX COUNTY HALIFAX COUNTY 33 Of these mines the High Hill property is operated by the Virginia Copper Company of Virgilina and 136 Liberty St., New York. The company is about to install a reduc- tion plant. The process is one devised especially for the treatment of these ores. The plant will have a capacity of 200 tons. An official of the Seaboard Mine states: "The Sea- board Copper Co., is an Incorporated Company under the laws of the State of New Jersey, capital stock $300,000 shares at $1.00 par value. The property owned by this Company consists of 155 acres of mineral lands in Halifax County, Va. The underground development work con- sists of three shafts 115 ft., 120 ft., and 260 ft. deep respec- tively. Levels aggregating 350 feet have been driven from these shafts opening up a valuable body of copper ore. The mine is well equipped with the best of mining machin- ery suitable for working the property to a depth of 500 feet. During the present year a Concentration plant to handle 50 tons of material per 24 hours is to be installed, a large part of this machinery already being on the grounds. The railroad is only three miles distant and this property should be making regular shipments to a smelter by July 1st next." The Goldbank Mine, (Inc.), which began work three years ago, owns 178 acres, has gone 156 feet and deeper, runs ten stamps and will shortly add ten more to the plant, works twenty-five hands, and has milled already a large amount of paying ore. The expense of working totals not more than $5.00 per ton, and the ore will average $10- $15 per ton — amalgamation process. On the same vein as the Goldbank Mine, Howard Bros, and Luce, of Buffalo, have begun operations. A third gold mine, not now in 34 HALIFAX COUNTY operation, is the Gills Mountain Mine, about two miles from the Goldbank. It is interesting to note that in the latest report of the Auditor of Virginia Halifax County stands ahead of such counties as Augusta, Montgomery, Bedford, and Smyth in the assessed valuation of mineral properties. * * * * As has been stated, the Buffalo Lithia Springs are three miles from the eastern boundary of the county of Halifax. Halifax, that is to say, lies within the Lithia Water Belt. No doubt an analysis of many unanalyzed springs of the county would show therapeutic proportions of the lithium carbonates. The Wolf Trap Well (Roanoke District) is seventy-four and one-half feet deep. The water has an extensive sale. Its composition is shown by the following analysis, by Prof. M. B. Hardin: One United States gallon of 231 cubic inches contains: Sodium Carbonate 0.24027 grains. Lithium Carbonate 0.01726 Ammonium Carbonate 0.00128 " Calcium Carbonate 7.41222 " Magnesium Carbonate 5 .09221 " Strontium Carbonate 0.38489 Iron Carbonate 0.06007 Manganese Carbonate . 0134 " Copper Carbonate . 0.001234 " Sodium Chloride 2.62956 " Sodium Bromide 0.00630 " Sodium Iodide : . . . . 0.00065 Sodium Nitrate 2.62548 " Potassiiun Sulphate . 06356 " Sodium Sulphate 0.06007 " Alimiinum Phosphate 0.04432 " Silica • 2.01780 " Barium Carbonate trace Zinc Carbonate. trace HALIFAX COUNTY S5 Magnesium Borate trace Calcium Floride trace Titanic Oxide trace Organic Matter (yielding ammonia) trace Total 20.66836 grains Carbon Dioxide associated with the above carbonates in the so-called bi-carbonates 6.06682 " Gases. Carbon Dioxide, free 12 . 38 cubic inches Nitrogen 3.60 " " "Oxygen 1 .70 " '' Total 17.68 " The waters of the Cluster Springs (Black Walnut dis- trict) have been known locally for years. These springs are literally clustered and several of them are valuable. The Calcic-Lithia spring is of a class ''in repute in the treatment of certain disorders of the bladder, and of some varieties of chronic dyspepsia." The Sulphur spring is valuable medicinally. An analysis of the Cluster springs Lithia Water is given, made by Prof. J. W. Mallett, M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., F. R. S., University of Virginia. Composition — Parts per MiUion. Potassium 1 . 132 Sodium 9 . 185 Lithium . 045 Calcium 4.829 Magnesium 5 . 074 Aluminum . 110 Iron .494 Manganese .034 Chlorine 5.106 Flourine Trace Radicle of Sulphuric Acid 2 .056 Radicle of Phosphoric Acid . .639 36 HALIFAX COUNTY Radicle of Nitric Acid Distinct Trace Radicle of Carbonic Acid 27.296 Radicle of Meta-Silicic Acid : 67.938 Hydrogen Meta-Silicic Acid 1 . 786 Hydroxal Alum. Hydroxide .206 Organic Matter Minute Trace Total 125.930 GASES: — Cubic centimeters per liter (at 0° C. and 760 mm.) Oxy- gen, 4.14; Nitrogen, 10.31; Carbon Dyoxide, 16.57. So useful a neighbor as the Buffalo Lithia should not be undescribed. This is one of the best known mineral waters in the United States, and has a very large sale in this country and abroad. The water is of great medicinal value, and is regarded almost as a specific in the treat- ment of uric acid diathesis, gout, and rheumatism. It is also used with great benefit in cases of renal calculus, stone in^the bladder, and in nervous and intestinal disor- ders. Residents in Halifax county have been known to say that no medicines are needed there. A slight exaggera- tion perhaps. Certainly, if abundant and pure water was ever an absolute preventive anywhere, there should be no sickness here. Man is mortal, but he has as fair a chance for a long life in this region as in any on the top side of the globe. IX. Water Power. A man of large business affairs in the county, quite familiar with the conditions, states that Halifax County is the best watered county in Virginia and has more unde- veloped water power than any other county in the State. "For instance," says this gentleman, "there are the Hyco HALIFAX COUNTY 37 fgf -wocryo vmojf •miL»v«o| ^^ »^ojt&nj, -ij }27)0 7JJ1 ,y^ suo b' '^saii/e At/ OS ii (O o 1 = MO So II P^-S I ^r mm pLi -I Lynchburg Richmond . Norfolk . . . $00.10 .10 .15 .6 .11 .7 .8 ,15 $23.75 $27.50 $52.50 S30. 00 $18.20 $23.40 $35.00 $35.00 $45.00 HALIFAX COUNTY 53 TO South Boston FROM Fertilizer, car loads: Minimum 20,000 pounds. Rinhmonfl . . $1.70 per ton. $2.40 per ton. $1.35 per ton- Norfolk Lynchburg LABOR. Farm labor: $10 per month on the average, and rations — twelve pounds of bacon and a bushel and a half of corn meal. Good farm hands can frequently be had for less. Domestic Servants: $4 . 00 to 5 . 00 per month, and board. LAWS. A. Every male citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age, who has been a resident of the State two years, of the county, city, or town one year, and of the precinct in which he offers to vote, thirty days, next pre- ceding the election in which he offers to vote, has been registered, and has paid his State poll taxes, shall be en- titled to vote for members of the General Assembly and all officers elected by the people. B. For registration a person must own property upon which, for the year next preceding that in which he offers to register, state taxes have been paid aggregating at least one dollar; or, must be able to read any section of the Constitution submitted to him and give a reasonable explanation of the same ; or, if unable to read such sec- 54 HALIFAX COUNTY tion, able to understand and give a reasonable explana- tion thereof when read to him^by the officers of registra- tion. C. The General Assembly may levy a tax on incomes in excess of six hundred dollars per annum. D. Whenever a franchise tax shall be imposed upon a corporation doing business in this State, or whenever all the capital, however invested, of a corporation chartered under the laws of this State, shall be taxed, the shares of stock issued by any such corporation, shall not be further taxed. E. The General Assembly shall levy a State capitation tax of, and not exceeding, one dollar and fifty cents per annum on every male resident of the State not less than twenty-one years of age; one third of which capitation tax shah be paidby the State into the treasury of the county in A^hich it was collected. The other two-thirds to be applied exclusively in aid of the public free schools of the State. F. Every householder or head of a family shall be entitled to hold exempt from levy, seizure, garnishment or sale under any execution his real and personal property to the value of not exceeding $2,000, to be selected by him — Provided, that such execution be not for the purchase of said property; or for services rendered by a laboring person or mechanic; or for a lawful claim for taxes; or for rent. [Extracts from Constitution of the State of Virginia, 1902.] NEWSPAPERS. Houston: Halifax Record- Advertiser, B. E. Hedderly, Editor. South Boston: Halifax Gazette, W. W. Ward, Editor. South Boston News, R. H. Beazley, Editor. HALIFAX COUNTY 55 POPULATION. Banister District 6,678 Birch Creek District 4,859 Black Walnyt District 4,016 Meadsville District 3,013 Mt. Carmel District 2,486 Red Bank District 2,563 Roanoke District 7,879 Staunton District 5,703 Total 37,197 POST OFFICES. Office. District. Alchie, Meadsville Alton, Mt. Carmel Basses, Birch Birch, Birch Carrington, Roanoke Christie, Black Walnut Clarkton, Staunton Clover, Roanoke Cluster Springs, Black Walnut Cody, Staunton Crystal Hill, Meadsville Danripple, Black Walnut Delila, Mt. Carmel Denniston, Black Walnut Dryburg, Roanoke Elmo, Birch Greendun, Birch Harmony, Black Walnut Office. District. Hermosa, Staunton Houston, Banister Hyco, Black Walnut Ingram, Birch Jones, Banister Leda, Staunton Lennig, Staunton Maxwelton, Roanoke Mayo, Black Walnut Meadsville, Meadsville Moffett, Red Bank Mount Carmel, Mt. Carmel Mount Laurel, Roanoke Nathalie, Staunton Neathery, Banister News Ferry, Birch Noland, Roanoke Omega, Red Bank Poolville, Red Bank 56 HALIFAX COUNTY Office. District. Office. District. Ramble, Red Bank Stovall, Staunton Republican Grove, StauntonTurbeville, Mt. Carmel Residence, Black Walnut Vernon Hill, Birch Scottsburg, Roanoke Sinai, Banister South Boston, Banister Stebbins, Birch Virgilina, Red Bank Volens, Staunton Watkins, Roanoke Wolftrap, Banister Rural Mail Delivery Offices. No. OF Routes. Post Office. Alton 1 Clarkton 1-2 Clover 1 Cody 1 Crystal Hill 1 Houston 1-2 Ingram 1 Lennig 1 Meads ville 1 No. OF Post Office. Routes. Nathalie 1-2-3 News Ferry 1-2 Paces 1 Republican Grove . 1 Scottsburg 1-2 South Boston 1-2-3 Vernon Hill 1 Virgilina 1-2-3-4-5 RAILROAD MILEAGE. Miles A. Southern Railway 63 B. Norfolk and Western R. R 39 Total 102 SCHOOLS. A. Money available for schools in Halifax County (Session, 1906-1907) $46,918.94 [More than 15 per cent increase over the preceding year.] B. Seating capacity of schoolhouses: White 4895 Colored 3735 HALIFAX COUNTY 57 C. Number of schools by districts. Districts, White. Colored Banister 9 9 Roanoke 24 17 Staunton 29 9 Meadsville 9 7 Birch Creek 18 12 Mt. Carmel 8 3 Black Walnut 11 H Red Bank 10 3 Houston 3 2 South Boston 9 3 Total 130 76 [State Superintendent of Public Instruction.] TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, ETC. Mean temperature, Spring 56; Summer, 76; Autumn, 58; Winter, 39; Annual, 57. Highest temperature ever recorded 102 in July; Lowest temperature ever recorded 6 below zero in January. Average precipitation. Spring, 11.2 inches; Summer, 12 inches; Autumn, 10.1 inches; Winter, 10 . 7 inches ; Annual 44 inches. Average monthly depth of snowfall during winter 4.1 inches. Prevailing wind direction, Spring N. W. ; Summer S. W; Autumn S. W.; Winter, N. W.; Annual, N. W. Throughout Halifax County, the rolling contour of the land, together with its elevation and distance from the sea, cause ranges in the monthly and seasonal mean temperatures as well as in the daily range and variability of temperature. Sharp and sudden temperature changes, though not frequent, occur and most often in the autumn and winter. 58 HALIFAX COUNTY An increase observed in the daily range of temperature seems to be due to a convectional circulation of the air, caused mainly by the physical conditions of the region. It is greatest in the western part of the county. [U. S. Weather Bureau, Richmond, Va.] E. A. Evans, Director, Climatological Service. TAXES. [See Laws for capitation tax.] A. $1 . 15 on the $100, (Red Bank District |1 . 25.) Apportioned as follows: a. For State purposes $0. 35 For County purposes, [schools . 10; other purposes .45.] 55 For District purposes, [schools . 10; Roads . 15.] . . 25 Total $1.15 B. Incomes taxed 1 per cent on amounts over $600. C. Corporations liable as under A. TELEPHONE COMPANIES AND LINES. A . Dan River Telephone Company. — Operating between the Dan River and the Virginia-North Carolina line. Head office. South Boston. B. South Boston Telephone Company. — South Boston.* C. Virginia-North Carolina Telephone Company. — Operating mainly along the line of the Norfolk and West- ern R. R., the middle region of Halifax County from North to South. D. Virgilina Telephone Company. — Virgilina. *The South Boston Company has been absorbed by the Dan River Company. HALIFAX COUNTY 59 E. West Halifax Telephone Company. — Operating in the West and North of Hahfax County. Head office, Ingram. TOBACCO. By the census of 1900 tobacco was reported as grown in Virginia by 44,872 farmers who obtained from 184,334 acres a yield of 122,884,900 pounds. This shows an increase in production of 74,362,245 pounds, or 153.3 per cent in the ten years from 1890 to 1900. The average area for each farm upon which tobacco was grown was 4. 1 acres. In the production of tobacco, by the census of 1900, Halifax, Pittsylvania and Mecklenburg counties contributed 34 . 7 per cent of the total acreage for the State and 30 . 5 per cent of the total production. The following table is interesting, giving the per cent of gross income from the farms in Virginia on the total investment in farm property: Hay and grain, (not fed to live stock) 18 . 2 per cent. Vegetables 33 . 5 '' Fruits 25.8 " Live Stock 17.6 " Dairy Produce 18 .8 " Tobacco 43.2 '' While the capital invested in tobacco lands is relatively not excessive and while allowance must be made for ex- penses, the figure 43 . 2 is startling. PART II, HISTORICAL. HALIFAX COUNTY 63 I. 1676-1752. The River Dan flows through the Land of Eden. That is what Colonel Byrd called this country a hundred and seventy-five years ago. It must be remembered that Pittsylvania and Franklin and Henry were only districts of Halifax in the beginning. Colonel Byrd had gone through this country in 1727, as Virginia Commissioner to run the line between the colony of Virginia and that of North Carolina. As reAvard for his distinguished services the Council of the Colony of North Carolina presented him with 20,000 acres of land lying just on the border, to the south of what was to be Halifax County twenty-five years later. In 1733 the Colonel came surveying on his own account. He was so greatly pleased with the land, as one of plenty and promise, that he called it Eden. The red, untutored savage had disappeared from the south side of Virginia before 1733, or if he was found there in that year and later he was harmless. Young Nathaniel Bacon had broken the power of the tribes of Meherrin, Appomattox, and Nottoway in 1676.* Bacon and his men solved the problem, notwithstanding the gallant, touchy old Sir William Berkeley. After 1676 the Indians were never strong enough in the region south of the James to molest the planter. Such security enabled the pioneer to get farther and farther away from the pleasant tide- water shires. After 1720 the establishment of counties to the west went forward rapidly. When Colonel Byrd pitched his tent on the Dan and the Hyco those were no mean rivers of Brunswick County. This was Colonel William Byrd of Westover, compan- ion of the mad Lord Peterborough, the witty, sprightly, *Bacon came as far as the banks of the Staunton. See, Campbell's History of Virginia, p. 307. 64 HALIFAX COUNTY travelled, Colonel Byrd, most cultivated of Virginians. The Colonel took along with him in the expedition of 1733 Major William Mayo,* who' had been the Surveyor for Virginia in the Commission of 1727. Major Mayo came also on his own account, for North Carolina had endowed him as well as the Colonel. He was to survey first Colonel Byrd's land and then his own — a goodly estate of 10,000 acres. The surveying party was made up of Colonel Byrd, Major Mayo, and some ten assistants. The Colonel writes: ''The weather now befriending us, we despatcht our little affairs in good time, and marcht in a Body to the Line. After a March of 2 miles we got upon Cane Creek whejre we saw the same Havock amongst the Old Canes that we had observed in other places, and a whole Forest of Young Ones springing up in their Stead. [No doubt the work of a freshet]. We pursued our Journey over Hills and Dales till we arrived at the second ford of the Dan, which we passed with no other Damage than sopping a little of our Bread and shipping some water at the Tops of our Boots." They came within sight of a great body of Indians, Catawbas so they thought. Along the Irvin River they found grass as high as a man on horsebaek. Keeping west the party reached Hatcher's Creek. ''Near the Banks of this Creek we found a large Beech Tree wdth the following Inscription cut upon the Bark of it — 'J. H., H. H., B. B. lay here the 24th of May, 1673.' It was not difficult to fill up these initials with the following names, Joseph Hatcher, Henry Hatcher, and Benjamin Bulling- ton, 3 Indian Traders, had lodged near that place 60 years before, in their way to the Sauro Town." ■'^The Mayo River was named for Major Mayo, and the village of Mayo in therefore called after him. HALIFAX COUNTY 65 Coming back, the party followed the Hyco for some distance, a branch of which they called Jesuit Creek because it misled them. " We encampt upon Hyco* River pretty high up and had much ado to get our House in order before a heavy Shower descended upon us* ***** * * About a mile below the Mouth of Hyco lives Aaron Pinston,1| at a quarter belonging to Thomas Wilsonf upon Tewahominy Creek. This man is the highest Inhabitant on the South side of the Dan, and yet reacons himself perfectly safe from danger." And he would be safe, the Colonel adds, if bears and wolvesj were as harmless to stock as the Indians. Some where in this region the Colonel lost a pair of gold buttons. He says: ''I paid for violating the Sabbath by losing a pair of gold buttons." This classic party of explorers appears to have forded the Staunton about McClean's Mill. Colonel Byrd's Land of Eden began at the southwestern corner of the present Halifax County. The bounds of that Eden w^ere: in length 15 miles — 3 miles broad at the west end — and 1 mile broad at the Est. The Colonel spelt as he pleased. § II. 1752-1776 During the nineteen years that followed after the Survey of Eden great progress was made in the settlement of the country west of the Staunton — Aaron Pinston began to *Hyco must be an Indian name. ^jAaron's Creek doubtless gets its name from Pinston the Pioneer. tThomas Wilson was a member of the surveying party. jPinston may have had a Wolf Trap south of the Dan, in those days. |See, Westover Manuscripts. — Journey to the Land of Eden, pp. 14 ff. September, 1733. 66 HALIFAX COUNTY have neighbors and the bears and wolves moved farther west.^; In 1746 Lunenburg County was set off from Bruns- wickjfand six years later the populations along the Dan and the Staunton had increased sufficiently to warrant a division of Lunenburg. Pinston may have lived to see his frontier cabin successively in the counties of Surry, Bruns- wick, Lunenburg, and Halifax, as the genealogical table for the county of Halifax will show: — Isle of Wight (1634, one of the [eight orig- inal shires of Vir- ginia). Surry (1652) Brunswick (1720) Lunenburg (1746) I Halifax (1752) Halifax was named for the Earl of Halifax, one of the distinguished family of Montagu, who was First Lord of the Board of Trade about that time and as such interested himself greatly in the welfare of the Colonies. The ear- liest records are not only valuable but are good reading also. They beign — ''At a meeting of the Justices appointed for Halifax County at Hampson Wade's House the XlXth HALIFAX COUNTY 67 day of May in the XXVth year of the Reign of our Sov- ereign Lord King George the Second, and in the year of our Lord Christ one Thousand seven hundred and fifty- two^a Commission of the Peace was produced from the Honorable Robert Dinwiddie, His Majesty's Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia bearing date at Williamsburg the twenty-eighth day of April in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and fifty-two and directed to William Byrd,* William Wynne, Peter Fontaine, Jun^, James Terry, William Irby, Nathaniel Terry, Robert Wade, Hampton Wade, Andrew Wade, Hugh Moore, and Sherwood Walton, Gentlemen." At this first Meeting the usual oaths were administered. Nathaniel Terry was sworn Sheriff; George Currie, Clerk of the Court; Thomas Nash, Surveyor; and Clement Read (of Lunenburg, later of Charlotte) King's Attorney. John Light, Joseph Paris, and Abel Lee were appointed Con- stables. Nicholas Hayle, Robert Jones, and James Irwin were recommended as Justices. A deed from John Owen to Thomas Stovall was acknowledged, and a license from Lunenburg County was produced by John Boyd to keep at his house a ferry over Dan River. It was prayed of Lunenburg County, through Clement Read, that the bonds for a bridge over Banister River be assigned to Halifax County. Further, it was ordered that William Irby and Andrew Wade take lists of Tithables from the Point of Fork (Dan and Staunton) up to Buffaloe upon Staunton ; James Terry to take the lists from the mouth of Buffaloe Creek up Stanton River to the extent of the County (i. e. as far as the Piedmont Country); and Hugh Moore from the mouth of Miery Creek up Dan River. Ordered, that the Sheriff forthwith agree with workmen to build a prison twelve feet square at the place appointed *Soii of Colonel William Byrd of the Survey of 1733. 68 HALIFAX COUNTY for the next Court to be held. Ordered, that the next Court be heldat Richard Dudgeon's ''where Thomas Wilson now lives." At the July Court, 1752, ''George Currie came into Court and proposed to Run a Line from the mouth of Aaron's Creek a dew west course twenty-five miles up and to strike the centre of the County* as near as can be estimated and as the convenience of water will admit of, at his own cost and charge, and that he will also at his farther cost and charge build a Court house, prison, stocks, and pillory as soon as conveniently he can." Sworn as Justices: Richard Eckhols, Thomas Calloway, Richard Brown, William Irby, Merry Webb, Peter Wilson, William Wynne, John Guilligtine; and John Owen. In 1753, at the March Court, the" Honorable Justices fixed important rates. "Pursuant to an Act of Assembly the Court set and rate the following Prices of Liquors, Diet, Lodging, Fodder, Provender, Stablage, and Pasturage at and for which the several ordinary Keepers in this county are to entertain and sell the ensuing year — viz: — For Good West India Rum pr. Gallon £0-10 shillings-0 pence New England Rum pr. Gall 0- 2 -6 French Brandy pr. Quart ... 0- 5 -0 Virginia Peach or Apple Brandy pr. Gallon 0-7 -6 ♦Near CaUands in Pittsylvania. Before 1767 the Court House was moved to the east — the name "Court House Branch," near County Line Church, indicates the site. The Pittsylvania line, run in 1767, came so near this Court House that the seat of "[oVernment was moved about 1769 to Faulkner's Crossing about three miles N. N. E. of Houston. In 1792 the Coiu-t House was placed at Banister which became Houston in 1890, with the advent of the Norfolk and Western Railway. There is little in a name, but there is less in some names than in other names. HALIFAX COUNTY 69 Whiskey pr. Gallon [undecipherable] French Claret pr. Quart .... 0- 1 -0 Portugal or French White Wine pr. Quart 0-3 -6 Madeira Wine pr. Quart 0-2 -6 English Strong Beer, pr. Quart Bottle 0-1 -6 Virginia Strong Beer pr. Quart ^. . . [undecipherable] Diet the Meal for a Break- fast 0-0 -8 A Hot Dinner 0-1 -0 liodging in Clean Sheets, for each man 0-0 -6 Stablage and Fodder for a Horse, 1 Night 0-0 -6 Pasturage for each horse, 24 hours 0-0 -6 Indian Corn pr. Gall 0-0 -4 We pay a little less today for a gallon of corn than was by law demanded in the year 1753. John Boyd's Ferry charges at this time were, four pence for a man; four pence for a horse; wheel carriages, four pence for each wheel. At the 1753 March Court a Grand Jury was appointed, ''good and lawful men of the county,' 'whose names are inter- esting — John Bates, Foreman; John Kerby, Edward Parker, William Lawson, Edmund Floyd, Hance Hen- drick, Robert Wilkins, Robert Moore, Francis Kerby, Peter Wilson, William Armstrong, Daniel Green, Daniel Smith, Richard Dudgeon, John Hanna, David Lawson, Alexander Irvin. The following May (1753) Court was'^held at Punch Spring which is called the Court House. This is probably 70 HALIFAX COUNTY Callands, but during these years Court was frequently held at ''Hilton's/' which is confusing. From 1753 to 1755 several Captains of foot companies were appointed: Thomas Calloway, Thomas Dillard, Andrew Wade, Francis Lawson, Hugh Moore, and Peter Wilson. In 1763 the Justices present at a Court were: George Watkins, Thomas Green, James Roberts, Robert Wooding, Theophilus Lacy, John Coleman, George Boyd, Matthew •Sims, Elijah Hunt. There were present at the March Court, 1774: Nathaniel Terry, Thomas Yuille, Walter Coles, and Isaac Coles. It is remarkable how persistent names have been in the county, only corroborating the statement so^often made that the South is the genuine America — where the English stock is to be found. Observe the names of the Burgesses from the county— 1753-1776: ^' / ^„^^ \ . . . .John Bates, WiUiam Harris. May 1, 1755 J ,^ , ^' ^„^^ [ . . . .Samuel Harris, John Bates. March 0, 1758 i ' Sept. 14, 1758 1 Jan. 12, 1764 J Oct. 30, 1764 Nathaniel Terry, Edward Booker. 1765 Edward Booker, 1765-1768 Edward Booker, Walter Coles. May, 1769 Nathaniel Terry, John Lewis. Nov. 1769-1772 Nathaniel Terry, Walter Coles. Feb. 10, 1772 ] ^t .i. • i ^r t n ^ ,, ^ ^„„A . . . .^Jathaniel lerry, Isaac Coles. May 5, 1774 J '^' June, 1775 Nathaniel Terry, Micajah Watkins. ifi ifi :^ ifi. ^ i: -^ There was a time when all of Halifax belonged to the Established Church. " When Halifax Countv was divided Robert Wade, Nathaniel Terry. HALIFAX COUNTY 71 from Lunenburg in 1752 it comprehended all that is now Pittsylvania, Henry, Franklin, and Patrick. Antrim Parish was coextensive with the county".* There were probably no chuiches or chapels in 1752 within the limits of the county. Several gentlemen were allowed to have services in their own houses, doubtless for the benefit of their neighbors as well as for that of their own families. Pigg River, Franklin County, was a reading station. William Chisholm, a candidate for orders, was given title to Antrim Parish in 1752, but Mr. Chisholm set out for London to be consecrated by his cUocesan, the Bishop of London, and nothing more was heard of him. The Rev. Mr. Proctor was allowed 2,000 pounds of tobacco, in 1753, for services by him done and performed for Antrim Parish. The Rev. Mr. Foulis was in the parish until 1759, when he went away and was not heard from thereafter. In 1762, Thomas Thompson, a very old man, served in the parish for a few months. The next spring Alexander Gordon a* Scotchman, was inducted. He continued until 1775, when being disappointed with the new order of things he retired and spent his old age near Petersburg. Wars are commonly thought to be a great part of history. History is made more in peace than in war. The following is a list of old vestrymen of Antrim Parish, from 1752— James Terry, Richard Echols, Thomas Dillard,^ Thomas Calloway, Richard Brown, William Irby, Merry Webb, Peter Wilson, William Wynne, John Guilligtine, John Owen, Nathaniel Terry, George Currie, Samuel Harris, Andrew Wade, James Dillard, Robert Wooding, Archibald Gordon, John Bates, Edward Booker, Hugh Junis, George Watkins, Alexander Gordon, Thomas *Bishop Meade: Old CTiurches and Families of Virginia, Vol. II, ch. XLVI. 72 HALIFAX COUNTY Tunstall, John Donaldson, Evan Ragland, Benjamin Dickson, William Thompson, George Boyd, Moses Terry, William Sims, Walter Coles, Edward Wade, Isaac Coles, John Coleman, William Terry, Michael Roberts, John Ragland, Armistead Washington, Joseph Hobson, George Carrington, Thomas Davenport, John Faulkner, Edmund King, Joseph Sandford, Thomas Theawt, John Ervine, Daniel Wilson, Thomas, Clark, Evan Ragland, Jr., Joseph Haynes, Thomas Lipscomb, John R. Scott, Francis Petty, Daniel Parker, George Camp, William Thomas, John Wattington, Achilles Colquett, Hansom Clark, John A. Fowlkes, Charles Meriwether, Adam Toot, Edward Boyd, Thomas Clark, Beverly Sydnor, Joseph Hewell, Samuel Williams, Littlebury Royster, Benjamin Rogers, Chilton Palmer, John Haynes, Screevor Torian, Robert Crute, Granville Craddock, Edward Carlton, William Fitzgerald, Isham Chasteen, Icare Torian, Isaac Medley, John R. Cocke, William Scott. Bishop Meade cites, as influential in the revival of the Episcopal Church in Halifax, the Bruces, the Ligons, the Greens, the Wimbishes, the Leighs, the Banks, the Logans, the Borums, the Edmundsons, the Fontaines, the Carring- tons, the Baileys.* III. 1776-1830 ...The Rev. Alexander Gordon, Parson of Antrim Parish for thirteen years, a Scotchman, being disappointed with the new order of things in 1775 retired from the Parish. *An old Episcopal Church at Meadsville was sold some twenty years ago; an old church stood at Catawba, which was moved to Clarkton. When St. John's Church was built at Houston, old St. Mark's Church was sold to the Methodists. HALIFAX COUNTY 73 Other natives of North Britain retired. The hand of the Scotch merchant was hard upon the planter before the Revohition. The Magistrates were upright and judi- cially minded men. It must have given more than one of them great pleasure to sit in judgment upon a factor, reasonably charged with disaffection to the cause of the colonies. At a court held for Halifax County in 1776 — Present, Nathaniel Terry, James Baker, Walter Coles, Isaac Coles, John Coleman, Elijah Hunt, John Arrell Tunstall, and William Terry — ''for the purpose of exam- ining several natives of North Britain (subjects of George the Third, King of Great Britain) residing within the county and being supposed to come within the Statute Staple of Twenty-seventh of Edward III, Chapter the seventeenth — The Resolution of the Assembly and Statute Staple aforesaid was read: Donald McNichol (a native of North Britain and Factor for James Murdoch and Company, Merchants in Glasgow, and was so at the first day of January, 1776) appeared and on considering the disposition and conduct of the said Donald, touching America and Great Britain, the Justices are of opinion that he ought to depart as directed the said Resolution". Also, James Steven, John Calder, Hector McNeil, John Smith, Walter Robertson, Thomas Hope, and James Calland,"^ all Scotchmen, were found "of a dis- position and conduct" to make their departure salutary. This exodus of the Scotch merchants meant business. It meant that George the Third (no longer our ''Sovereign Lord"), so many of whose counsellors were Scotchmen, was being defied by his American possessions. The Clerk of Halifax County in 1776, Paul Carrington, Sr., was one of ♦Perhaps CaUands in Pittsylvania, where the first Halifax Court House stood, gets its name from James Calland. 74 HALIFAX COUNTY the foremost men of the colony in adopting the measures that looked to a separation from the British Empire. Paul Carrington's estate, "Mulberry Hill'' lay partly in Halifax and doubtless that is the explanation of his Clerk- ship of Halifax from 1764 to 1776. Judge Carrington was a member of both Committees of Safety (1775 and 1776) ; and a delegate to the Conventions of 1774, 1775, 1776, and 1788. He was a member of the first General Court of Virginia and became its Chief Justice. In 1779 he was elected a Judge of the Court of Appeals, which position he held until his resignation in 1807. In his letter of resig- nation, written to Governor Cabell, he says: ''I think it time for me to retire from public business to the exalted station of a private citizen." Judge Carrington's house at ''Mulberry Hill" presents almost the same appearance today as when it was built in the year 1755. He was a public man from his youth. During his time, he was King's Attorney of four several counties, and he held any number of offices besides. George Carrington, a son of the elder Paul Carrington? succeeded his father in the Clerkship of Halifax. George Carrington held the office from 1776 to 1797. He lived at ''Oak Hill," an estate just across the Dan River from South Boston, In the Revolutionary War, he was 1st Lieutenant of Armstrong's Troop 'Cavalry]. -He and Armstrong won the battle of Quimby Bridge, a fierce skir- mish where the British cavalry charged across the bridge, part of which had been taken up, and had a desperate battle with the colonial troops.* George Carrington was a General of militia and a brilliant man. He was a delegate *See, Washington Irving: Life of Washington; and Hugh Blair Grigsby : Virginia Convention of 1776. HALIFAX COUNTY . • 75 from Halifax in the Convention of 1788, and was later a member of the State Senate, of great popularity and influ- ence. A^hij^her son of Judge Paul Carrington, Sr., Edward ^/t u^f Carrington was an officer of Lee's Legion. General Lee speaks of him in the highest terms.f It is still remem- bered in this region how Major Carrington got Greene's army across the Dan on the retreat before Cornwallis, preceding the battle of Guilford Court House (1781). On the 15th of February Greene had just succeeded in crossing the river Dan when Lord Cornwallis appeared on the opposite bank. At this point Cornwallis gave up the pursuit and turning to the South established himself at Hillsborough, North Carolina. The battle of Guilford Court House, one of the decisive battles of the Revolu- tion, followed on March 25th, after which Lord Corn- wallis retreated across North Carolina towards Wilming- ton. His next important engagement was at Yorktown, where he surrendered to General Washington, Oct. 19th. Thus, it appears that Greene and Cornwallis passed through Halifax County twice in the month of March, 1781. The armies followed what is known as thej' River Road," from Milton to Blank's Ferry [Irwin's Ford?]— wherel Greene seems to have crossed and then recrossed, on the track of the southward moving noble lord. There is a tradition that Cornwallis made his headquarters at an innj(the building is still in existence) which stood on the River Road, about two miles to the east of Turbeville. fSee, Henry Lee : Memoirs of the War in the South. Jit is possible that both Colonel Byrd and Lord Cornwallis crossed the Dan at the old Skipwith Ferry, above Clarksville, at the lowest point of union before the j&nal junction of the two rivers. Again, it is reliable tradition that Irwin's Ford was a mile or two above South Boston, and that here the armies crossed. This was where Major Carrington lived. 76 HALIFAX COUNTY In 1781 Tarleton raided the country along the Staunton River very near the Halifax line, just above Brookneal. Tarleton took much the same course as that followed by the Tidewater Railroad and for much the same reasons. Only a short time ago a penny was found on Dan River, in the county, dating from 1730 in the time of ''Our Sover- eign Lord George the Second." There is vague talk of a roster of soldiers furnished by Halifax in the Revolution. This lacking, more peaceful records must be employed to supplement the brief account given above, in filling out the Revolutionary and post- Revolutionary period. Follows a list of delegates from the county to the General Assembly, from 1773 to 1830, when the new constitution went into effect: Session of 1778 Nathaniel Terry and Micajah Watkins. Session of 1779 Micajah Watkins and John Coleman. May Session 1781 James Bates May Session 1781 1 ^ ,tt , , • ^ ^, ., . ,„„. George Watkins Ocotber Session 1781 I ^ May Session 1782 ^ X 1 CI • -,^Too 1 John Coleman I October Session 1782 October Session 1782 1 ^ Sessions 1806-07 j May Session 1782 Daniels and Walker June Session 1788 Oct. Session 1788 Oct. Session 1791 Oct. Session 1792 ...... May Session 1813 Sessions 1813-14; 1841-2 October Session 1789 Henry E. Coleman October Session 1791 1 .^^ . , ^, , ^ ^ , o • -. ^rr^o \ David Clark October Session 1792 j November Session 1794 Thomas Roberts Thomas Watkins HALIFAX COUNTY 77 December Session 1799. . . . January Session, 1800 1 December Session, 1800. . January Session, 1801 .... December Session, 1800. . January Session, 1801 .... December Session, 1802. . January Session, 1803 .... Sessions, 1809-10 Sessions, 1810-11 Sessions 1806-7 Sessions 1808-9 Sessions 1810-11 Sessions 1808-9 Sessions 1809-10 Sessions 1824-25 Sessions 1812-13 Sessions 1813-14 Sessions 1814-15 Sessions 1814-15 Sessions 1812-13 Sessions 1817-18 Sessions 1818-19 Sessions 1817-18 Sessions 1818-19 Sessions 1820-21 Sessions 1822-23 Sessions 1834-35 Sessions 1820-21 Sessions 1822-23 Sessions 1823-24 Sessions 1824-25 Sessions 1826-27 Sessions 1835-36 u Richard Howson John B. Scott WiUiam Terry Wilham Terry Joseph Sandford WilUam B. Banks Melchizedeck Spraggins John Hill Isaac Medley Williamson Price Howson Clark James Sneed Richard Logan Clement R. Carrington ^ John B. Carrington 78 HALIFAX COUNTY Sessions 1826-27 ] -^ u r. r^v. ^ o • ir,o^ no John G. Chalmers Sessions 1827-28 Sessions 1828-29 , ^ ,-, ^ ,, ci • -.oo^ or^ Heniv hj. bcott Sessions 1829-30 j *^ It was in the Convention of 1829 that John Randolph of Roanoke made his famous remark/' Call them horned cattle/' which did nothing to increase his popularity. John Randolph, William Leigh, Richard Logan, and Richard N. Venable were the delegates to that Convention from the 8th district, in which Halifax was then included. In the spring of 1827, Mr. Randolph made a great speech at Halifax Court House on the issues of the proposed convention. It was estimated that from six to ten thousand people had gathered to hear him. — " As the hour approached every countenance beamed with antic- ipation or was grave with anxiety, for the weather was a little inauspicious and Mr. Randolph's health was bad. It was known that he had reached Judge Leigh's, but fears were entertained that he might be deterred by the weather. About 10 o'clock, however, the thin clouds vanished, and about 11 o'clock news passed like an electric current through the vast multitude that he was coming. In an instant the crowd began moving slowly and noise- lessly towards the upper tavern. Scarcely had they reached the summit of the slope between the courthouse and the tavern when they saw him coming on horseback, his carriage in 'the rear, driven by one of his servants. As he drew near, the crowd simultaneously divided to each side of the street, making a broad avenue along which he passed, hat in hand, bowing to the right and to the left, until he reached the lower tavern. The people with uncovered heads silently returned the salutation. As he passed on to the lower tavern, the multitude followed in profound silence. Alighting and going in for a few mo- HALIFAX COUNTY 79 ments he soon reappeared, crossed the street, ascended the steps leading over to the court house, and began by asking: "Fellow citizens. — why in my feeble state am^I here? Love of your liberty as well as my own compelled me to come."* And after the Convention Mr. Randolph returned to Halifax Court House, very feeble, to give an account of his stewardship. Judge William Leigh, of Halifax, was John Randolph's sole executor by his will of 1821. Judge Leigh and Henry St. George Tucker were the final executors by the will of 1832. -^ "1^ -^ ^ ^ i(i After the Episcopal Church, the Baptist Church is the oldest in Halifax County. Baptist Churches were estab- lished in the county from 1773 to 1803 as follows: Catawba, 1773; Buffaloe, 1776; Mayo, 1774; Wynn's Creek, 1773; Hunting Creek, 1775; Musterfield, 1779; Childrey, 1783; Millstone, 1787; Arbor, 1785; Polecat, 1790; Miry Creek, 1803; Liberty, 1802; Dan River, 1802; Twelve Corner, 1803.t Of these churches Catawba, in the northern part of the county, occupies the site of the original meeting house. Buffaloe Church became extinct during the war. The meeting house was of stone, near PannelPs Bridge, almost on the Halifax-Pittsylvania line. Mayo was once one of the largest churches in the old Roanoke Association. The meeting house was situated near Mayo, on the road leading from Carrington's Bridge to Clarksville, and about a mile from Mayo Creek. The church was absorbed by Black Walnut on one side and Bethel, in Person County, North Carolina, on the other. ♦See, Home Remniscences of John Randolph of Roanol-e, by Powhatan Bouldin. tSee, Semple's History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond, 1894. 80 HALIFAX COUNTY The congregation of Wynn's Creek Church worshipped at first in a meeting house situated two and a half miles north of Houston. Hunting Creek still flourishes and is situated in the northeastern section of Halifax. On the formation of the Baptist Church at Scottsburg, in 1884, Musterfield Church was dissolved. The church stood to the northeast of Houston, on the road to Scottsburg. The Childrey Church joined the Dan River Association in 1872 and is vigorous. Childrey is near Brookneal. The congregation of Millstone Church worships on the original site — near Meadsville, on the road from Houston to Republican Grove. Arbor Church is active. Polecat Church declined. A new meeting house was erected in 1836 and the name changed to Mount Vernon, on the Moun- tain Road. Miry Creek and Liberty are now extinct. Miry Creek united with Arbor Church before 1840. Dan River Church is active today and on the original site, about three miles from South Boston. Twelve Corner derived its name from the log building of twelve corners in which the church long worshipped. June 2, 1810 the name of the church was changed to Republican Grove. Dr. A. B. Brown was for years the pastor of the Republican Grove Church. ;{: ^ :}: •{: 'is 5j« Dr. William W. Bennett's Memorials of Methodism in Virginia gives few facts in regard to the Methodist Church in Halifax County. Methodism grew rapidly in Virginia after 1775, when there were not as many Methodists south of the Potomac River (955) as there are in Halifax County today. In 1781 there were 3,239 Methodists reported in Virginia. Bishop Asbury, the father of the church in Virginia, must have ridden often through Halifax on his long circuits. Speaking of his rides through the country lying on the Meherrin River, he says, "In this country HALIFAX COUNTY 81 I have to lodge half my nights in lofts, where light may be seen through a hundred places; and the cold wind at the same time blowing through as many.'* In 1784 Halifax was a part of the ''South District of Virginia:'' Halifax, Mecklenburg, Bedford, Cumberland, Amelia, Brunswick, Sussex, Greensville, Bertie, Camden, Portsmouth, Williamsburg, Hanover and Orange. In 1784 the official title Presiding Elder first occurs. At the first Council of the Methodist Church in Virginia, James O'Kelly sat for the South District. In 1792 O'Kelly began to be greatly antagonistic to Bishop Asbury, and by 1801 the O'Kellyan Schism had made such advances as to take a distinct name— "The Christian Church.'' It is not stated whether O'Kelly's Church was much recruited in the Halifax section of his District. It is to be regretted that Dr. Bennett's book gives so few local statis- tics. How difficult it is to remember that what everybody knows today is precisely what nobody will know to- morrow. H: ii^ H: H: H: * The Rev. Alexander Hay, of Scotland, was inducted into the parish of Antrim in 1790. After the Revolution measures were taken for the erection of churches. Several of the old ones had fallen upon evil times. In 1794 it was reported that one church had been converted into a dwelling because there was no title to the land; another, out of repair, had been made over into a Baptist Church; a third, which had been put to the double purpose of a stable and a tobacco barn, was demolished and the timbers used for a store; a fourth was burned. The Revolution left the Episcopal Church greatly crippled in Halifax as in most counties. In 1816 a small church was built some three miles from the Court House, in which Mr. Hay preached a few times 82 HALIFAX COUNTY before his death in 1819. Here also Mr. Ravenscroft (later, first Bishopof North Carolina) occasionallypreached. This church v/as afterwards converted into a Methodist Church. Evan Ragland died in 1814 leaving a large estate to the Episcopal Church. There was a cause in chancery, and by 1830 $2,000 was/ealized by the church. Mr. Steel preached at Mt. Laurel Church from 1825 to 1830. The church had been built largely by Episcopalians, but was free to- others. The Rev. Charles Dresser became rector of the Church at Halifax Court House in 1828. He was succeeded in 1838 by the Rev. John Grammer. It is owing to Mr. Dresser's energetic interest that the facts contained in Bishop Meade's book have been preserved. Mr. Dresser went to Illinois and in that state became President of Jubilee College, Peoria.* It is an interesting fact that Mr. Dresser, while rector of a church at Spring- field, Illinois, officiated at the marriage of Abraham Lin- coln and Mary Todd, November 4, 1842. The house occupied by Mr. Dresser in Springfield was later bought by Mr. Lincoln and is often mentioned as the home of the President. Halifax County was made possible as a place of settlement by the thorough work of Nathaniel Bacon; *Mr. Dresser was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. John Grammer, father of Dr. John Grammer, Captain of Company A, 53d Virginia Infantry. Dr. Grammer was rector until his death in 1870. Dr. O. A. Kinsolving suc- ceeded Dr. Grammer and served the parish until his death in 1894. Four of his sons became clergymen — Rt. Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving, Bishop of Texas; Rt. Rev. Lucius Lee Kinsolving, Bishop of Brazil; Rev. A. B. Kinsolving, D. D., Rector of St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, Md., (and for some years rector of Christ Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.); Rev. Wythe L. Kinsolving, Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Barton Heights, Virginia. Mr. Shackelford followed Dr. Kinsolving, and in 1900 the present Rector, the Rev. Flournoy Bouidin succeeded Mr. Shackel- ford. It is interesting to know the succession in the oldest church of the county, reckoning, that is, by the parish name. HALIFAX COUNTY 83 on the soil of Halifax the Surrender at Yorktown was fore- shadowed; Halifax supplied the clergyman who married Abraham Lincoln, and it has been thought that Lincoln would not have become President if he had failed in his suit for the hand of Miss Mary Todd of Kentucky.* IV. 1830-1865. Martins' Gazetteer of Virginia is a valuable source of information about the State as it was before the war. The book was published in 1834 and its facts are therefore to be referred to 1830. The minuteness of Martin is wonder- ful. He writes about Halifax County: The county is well watered and has an excellent soil. Much first rate tobacco is raised. Taxes paid in 1832 on 5,769 horses, 20 studs, 78 coaches, 81 carryalls, 102 gigs. Expended on educating poor children in 1832, $704.21. Towns, villages, post offices, etc. — Barksdale, P. 0: This village contains several dwelling houses, one Baptist house of public worship, one common school, a Sabbath School, a Missionary andTemperance Society, an apothecary, wheel- right, boot and shoe factory, and a blacksmith. The post office located at this place is perhaps the oldest establishment in the county. The land of the surrounding country is light and sandy, remarkably free and produc- tive. Banister: Post Village. Besides the usual county buildings, this village contains 25 dwelling houses with a number of outhouses, mechanics shops, etc., two spacious houses of public worship, one Episcopalian and the other Methodist, a large and handsome Masonic Hall (which has lately been erected of brick, in an elevated and advan- *See, Abraham Lincoln, by John G. Nicolay, p . 69 . 84 HALIFAX COUNTY tageous situation, about the middle of the village.) several handsome and commodious taverns, three general stores and one grocery. The mechanics are a saddler, coach maker, two wheelrights, three blacksmiths, two tailors, one cabinet maker, and two boot and shoe manufacturers. There are in this vicinity two extensive flour manufactur- ing mills, two saw mills, and two cotton gins. The face of the country on each side of the village is very much broken, which causes it to be very long and narrow, and the houses to be built in a scattering manner, except immediately around the court house where all the stores and mechanics shops are located. The village is remark- able for its health, being well elevated by a gradual ascent of three quarters of a mile from the river. It is situated on the main road from Fredericksburg to the South. Seven stages pass through weekly and eleven mails are received at the post office. There is a race course in the neighbor- hood over which races are run once a year.* Population, 250 persons, of whom three are attorneys and three physi- cians. County courts are held on the 4th Monday in every month. Quarterly, in March, June, August and November. Judge Leigh holds his Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery on the 1st of April and Septem- ber. BenneWs Store, P. 0: 146 miles S. W. of Richmond and 236 from Washington [It has been suggested that this is Mayo.] — Bentleysville,P. 0: 115 miles from Richmond and 230 from Washington. Black Walnut. Bloomsbiirgh: situated two miles south of Dan River, and eight miles from the North Carolina line, on the main S. W. stage road leading from Washington City to Salisbury, N. C, and Milledgeville, Georgia. There are located here a dweUing house and a mercantile store; and in the vicinity *Imported Margrave, Imported Sarpedon, and Fly-by-Night were famous names in the coimty before the war. HALIFAX COUNTY 85 two houses of public worship, one Baptist and the other Presbyterian. The country around is densely settled, and the land fertile, producing in abundance wheat, Indian corn, tobacco, etc. Brooklyn: Post Village. Contains 21 dwelli-ng houses, one mercantile store, one druggist shop, one tanyard, one boot and shoe factory, one coach and wagon maker, one tailor, two blacksmith shops, and one house carpenter. The situation is high and healthy. Population 60 persons; one of whom is a physician. Centreton P. 0: Plainly Centerville. Meadsville: situ- ated at the head of navigation on Banister River. Con- tains 12 dwelling houses, two general stores, one tobacco warehouse, one iron foundry and plow manufactory, one cabinet maker, one tanyard, one blacksmith, two extensive flour manufacturing mills, a wool carding machine, and a cotton gin. Population 70 persons; of whom one is a physician. Mount Laurel, P. 0. Rtpuhlican Grove. Scottshurg: Post Village, contains several dwelling houses' one tavern, one mercantile store, and one smith's shop. Population 40. Warren's Store P. 0: 115 miles S. W. by W. of Richmond and 205 miles from Washington, situated in the western part of the county. The population of Halifax* in 1830 was 28,034; in 1840, 25,936; in 1850, 25,962; and in 1860, 26, 520. From 1830 to 1860 there was much emigration from Virginia to the West and the Southwest, and Halifax certainly contributed its share, as will be seen by an inspection of the figures. Hence Martin's summary for 1830 probably holds good for the thirty years preceding the war — an agricultural *In 1790 the population was 14,722; 1800, 19,377; 1810, 22,133; 1820, 19,060. Pittsylvania was set off from Halifax in 1767; Henry from Pittsylvania in 1777; and Franklin from Henry (with a part of Bedford) in 1784 86 HALIFAX COUNTY county and one of the best. For that very reason Hahfax suffered extremely by the war. Where there was an industrial life before the war activity could be more readily resumed. Therefore the county's achievement since the war has been all the more remarkable. Halifax did not produce many general offices from '61 to '65. But the county furnished companies to all three arms of the service, as many as thirty-three it has lately been guessed, certainly twenty companies. Twenty companies from an arms bearing population of not much beyond 2000 is to say the least, a good showing. What is given here on the historical side professes to be merely a sketch through- out. It must be less than that for the war period. Bureau methods were distasteful to the Southerner. There was little of the speculative in his fighting. It has generally been admitted that he fought. Card catalogues are used now. We have learned that commercialism is war. The records are being collected and will after a time be pub- lished. The Infantry roll is long: 1. 8th Regiment, Company G. Capt. James Thrift and Capt. J. O. Berry. 2. 14th Regiment— Company K. Capt. D. A. Claiborne, " Dan River Company. " 3. 17th Regiment — Company D. Capt. Wm. H. Dulany. ''Halifax Rifles." 4. 38th Reigment — Company F — Capt. Jonathan Carter and Capt. Lafayette Jennings. 5. 53d Regiment — Company A — [Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division.] Capt. John Grammer. " Halifax Light Infantry Blues." Lieutenants: P. C. Edmunds, Ransom B. Moon, Thomas F. Barksdale, H. A. Edmondson, James D. Clay, Evan J. Ragland, A. B. Willingham. Orderly Sergeant: A. R. Green. HALIFAX COUNTY 87 This company was mustered in service on the 24th of April 1861. Ninety-four men and officers passed inspec- tion. Captain Grammer was advanced to the Colonelcy of a West Virginia regiment (Breckinridge's Brigade). Later he was wounded and afterwards acted as a surgeon. 6. The Brooklyn Grays — Capt William Haymes. 7. Capt. John C. Coleman's ''Company.^y[Dr. Cole- man.] This company, under Garnett, was captured in the Luray Valle}^ and disbanded. The*menjoined]other Com- panies. 8. Captain Richard Logan's Company — Lieutenant, Charles Bruce. 9. Captain W. S. Penick's Company. 10. Captain Young's Company — [Dr. Young.] 11. Captain D. B. Easley's Company. 12. Captain West's Company. 13. Captain William B. Hurt's Company — [Reserves.] At least four companies of artillery were made up of Halifax men, to which must be added the Staunton Artil- lery, half from Halifax. 1. 4th Regiment, Heavy Artillery — Battery F. Capt. Richard H. Edmondson. 2. Light Artillery— {Poague's Battalion.] Capt. Lewis (Milton, N. C), and Capt. Nathan Penick. 1st Lieutenant. — Armistead Barksdale. 2d Lieutenant. — James Cobbs. 3. Captain Sam. Wright's Battery. 4. Captain H. H. Hurt's Battery. After one year's service this company was formed into an infantry company [Wise's Brigade.] 5. Staunton Artillery — 6 Gun Battery. Capt. Charles Bruce and Capt. A. B. Paris. 88 HALIFAX COUNTY Lieutenants: Thomas Tucker, Wood Bouldin, Jr., R. V. Gaines, C. A. Hamner, Flavins Gregory, Thomas E. Mar- shall. Orderly Sergeants: C. C. Read, H. A. Walker, T. C. Watkins, John Fore, Wyatt Paris, George Bruce, William Walker, J. A. Roberts. Halifax was a racing region before the war. The County furnished its quota to the Cavalry — 1. 3d Regiment— Troop C. ''Black Walnut Cavalry." Capt. William Easley, Capt. J. O. Chappell, and Capt. Thomas H. Owen. Subalterns at the first organization: 1st Lieutenant, Thomas H. Owen; 2d Lieutenant, J. W. Hall; Lieutenants: J. M. Jordan, Thomas Hall. Sergeant: Thomas Traynham. Captain Owen was advanced to a colonelcy, and just before the close of the war received a commission as Brigadier General. 2. 3d Regiment — Troop H. Capt. William Collins,. ''Catawba Cavalry." [The 3d Regiment was in Wickham'& and Fitzhugh Lee's Brigade, Stuart's Division.] 3. Captain Thomas S. Flournoy's Troop. Captain Flournoy later became Colonel of the 6th Cavalry. 4. Captain Mustain's Company. A part of this com- pany was from Halifax, whether in the infantry or the cavalry the writer is uncertain. Company A. 53d Va. Infantry, Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division, may serve as a typical Halifax Com- pany. This was an organized company before the war, and was the first to be mustered in from the county. The company fought from North Carolina to Pennsylvania: at Bethel Church; Seven Pines; the Seven Days (includ- ing Malvern Hill); Second Manassas; Harper's Ferry; HALIFAX COUNTY 89 Sharpsburg; Fredericksburg; Suffolk; Gettysburg (where Gen. Armistead was killed); Newbern, N. C; Drewry's Bluff; Fort Harrison (here Captain Henry Edmunds was greatly distinguished, June 18, 1864)* the Petersburg- Richmond lines; the Howlett House; Five Forks; Say- ler's Creek; Appomattox Court House, where Capt. Ednmnds, as Senior Captain was in command of the regi- ment. A letter written by a memberf of the Company after Fort Harrison gives a notion of what war meant to the Halifax soldier: ''Sandy (orderly sergeant Green) carried us on night picket duty through the battlefield of the day before, over dead bodies of men and horses and within a hundred yards of the main fort. We were placed at a spot where there had been a cabin, and when the lightning flashed I could see all around me as plainly as if it was day. There was a fearful cloud rising. I took a seat on the remains of an old chimney and as I looked over, there stood, within ten feet, two Yankees on the same errand as ourselves. Sandy gave me orders not to fire unless there was an advance in force. These Yankees heard m}- orders and after a while one of them said, ''John- ny, don't shoot. If you do, we will all be killed. Both armies will fire and we have no way to protect ourselves." "Agreed. I shall not fire unless you all advance.'' We chatted for some time, until an officer came around and stopped them. * * * * Our orders were to come in at daybreak. We started as soon as the camp mules began to bray, but just before we reached our works, that had been built that night, our artillery opened on the fort and *The Confederate Monumeut at Randolph, on the Halifax side, in the form of the breastworks there, is a relic of July 1864, when the boy General Polk Jennings, checked Stoneman's advance. A brisk skirmish. The Confederate forces were old men and boys. fCapt. yV.np- Morton of Clover, Halifax County. 90 HALIFAX COUNTY we sought shelter in an old rifle pit some 100 yards in front of the works and there we spent the greater part if not the whole day, without water or food, between the fires of the opposing batteries. Pieces of brimstone would fall in our pit from the schrapnel of the enemy and the dirt in our front would be knocked on our heads. We moved out just about dark and joined our Company in time to be marched nearly all night, and early next morning I went with Major Fairfax on a reconnoissance to find the enemy. The loss of sleep for two nights nearly wore me out, but I lived on excitement and went into the fight as cheerfully as I ever did. I remember going to Henry SouthalPs that night, and we slept in a feather bed, the first time in two years under a roof and in a bed. Mrs. Southall filled our haversacks and we returned to the Company next morning and then moved to our former lines between the Appomat- tox and the James. "* V. 1865-1907 t The haversack, that was the trouble. Not every kind lady in 1864 could fill a visiting soldier's haversack. And in 1865, how extremely scarce the provender was. Quotations for the cereal coft'ees, the long sweetening and such articles of commerce stood at a high figure. The money market was brisk. But as Mark Twain proved, when you have little but money, no matter how good the money is, it does you mighty little good. Peoj^le had barrels of mone}^ and nothing to eat. The great produc- tiveness of our soils was in itself a handicap. Three-fourths *There is but oue Camp of Veterans in the county. — Halifax Camp., South Boston. Commander: Henry Easley. Adjutant: E.N.Hardy. fPopulation: 1870,''27,828; 1880,33,588; 1890,34,424; ^900, 37,197. HALIFAX COUNTY 91 of the land had been going without any proper attention and was sending up natural growths everywhere. The soldiers got back home to find^ what? It was as if in a night — for the war seemed a bad dream — some devil had been let loose to change the order of the universe. That same devil, or one very like him, kept on hanging around for a good ten years. If the war was partial paraly- sis, reconstruction was coma. The old timers turned their faces to the wall and died. The younger men, dazed as they were by the general feeling of insecurity, worked as they could and gradually effected some system in the chaos. During the past ten years the South at large has been able to go forward in a geometrical progression because during the years immediately following the war the younger men of the South despised not the day of small things. Fortunately for Halifax County there was a remnant of capital left in the county after the war. This was used sagaciously in the up-building of the town of South Boston which has done so much for the financial well-being of the county. From nothing in 1870 but a store and a station at the end of a bridge, (to the bridge also must be ascribed a share in the rise of South Boston), the town grew to be important enough for incorporation in 1884. In 1885 the first bank was established. The finances of the county were organized and what the organizers have accomplished in a brief space is a matter of record elsewhere. The old town of Banister was incorporated in 1874,* changing its st3de to Houston^at the approach'of a railway. Virgilina and Clover were incorporated in 1899 and 1900 respec- tively. God made the country and the country makes the town. Halifax could not to-dav be one of the wealthiest *First TruHees: Hemy H. Edraondson, N. T. Green, James E. Johnson, J. M. Carrington, George C. Holt, Edwin Giubbs, W. W. Willingham. 92 HALIFAX COUNTY counties in Virginia and the third county of the State in non-urban population, unless its natural endowment was excellent. . Some of the ablest men of Halifax have sat as delegates from the county to the several State Conventions: Convention of 1774 Nathaniel Terry and Isaac Coles, or Micajah Watkins. Convention of 1775 (March 20) Nathaniel Terry and Micajah Watkins. Convention of 1775 (July 17) Micajah Watkins. Convention of 1775 (December 1) Nathaniel Terry and Micajah Watkins. Convention of 1776 (May 6) Nathaniel Terry and Micajah Watkins. Convention of 1788 Isaac Coles and George Carrington. Convention of 1829-30. [From the 8th District] John Randolph, William Leigh, Richard Logan. Richard N. Venable. Convention of 1850-51. [From Halifax, Pittsylvania and Mecklenburg.] William M. Tred- way, John R. Edmunds, James M. Whittle, William 0. Goode, George W. Perkins. Convention of 1861 Thomas S. Flournoy. Convention of 1867 William L. Owen and David Canada. Convention of 1901-1902 Wood Bouldin and Joseph Stebbins.* Character and conduct make greatness. Halifax County has produced such men as the elder Richard Logan, Judge ♦For sketches of the Clerks of the County: See, Johnson's Virginia Clerks. HALIFAX COUNTY 93 William Leigh, John R. Edmunds,"^ Thomas S. Flournoy, William L. Owen, Paul C. Edmunds, James Bruce. Judge John W. Riely, Henry Edmunds. ♦John R. Edmunds, among other conspicuous services, built for the Confederate Government that section of the Southern Railway lying between Danville and Greensboro. The Southern Planter ESTABLISHED 1840. RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. The only agricultural paper of its kind in the world that tells the farmer every month how, when, and what to plant. Every issue a complete farmers' guide for that month. Edited by a practical and scientific farmer of 25 years' experience. An able and competent corps of contributors. The enquirers' column answers all questions. You are perfectly welcome to a sample copy to see if it comes up to this '' advance notice." The Southern Planter, Mi^, Richmond, Va. HALIFAX GAZETTE PUBLISHED AT South Boston - - Virginia* By WOOD PUBLISHING CO. Fully covers every section of one of the most populous and prosperous counties in the Old Dominion. Subscription, So cents the year. Advertising rates upon application. Planters^ and Merchants' . . . Bank . . . South Boston, Va. f^^ ^^ ^y^ The Largest Bank in Halifax County Organized May, 1885 = Resources = Half Million Dollars ^^ ^^ 9^^ Special Attention to Collections Henry Easley, W. I. Jordan, R. E. Jordan, President. Vice President. Cashier. SEP 28 m/ 1907 HALIFAX GOUNTY VIRGINIA A HANDBOOK *' Heaven and Earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's Habitation,'' — Capt, John Smith, 1607, THE EVERETT WADDET CO. PRINTERS, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. I